Monster Hands
by skwirelygurli
Summary: Austin and Ally are parents. Future!Auslly


**Monster Hands, an Austin and Ally one-shot**

**I do not own Austin and Ally. Prompted "watermelon" and to do a future story. Reviews and requests are appreciated!**

Here he goes and tries to be the supportive husband, telling her how beautiful she is, and what happens? He gets in trouble.

At eight months pregnant, she'll blame it on the hormones.

"You're kidding, right? Look at me." She runs one hand over her belly, using the other to set a container of mushrooms in the cart.

"I am, and I think you look beautiful." He tucks a stray hair behind her ear. "And so will our baby."

Pushing the cart forward, she stops in front of the lettuce. Her stomach rumbles. Screw this bunny food. She wants a cheeseburger, extra mustard.

Setting the lettuce back on the shelf, she leans forward. "Our baby is heavy."

"Hop in the cart. I'll push you." He takes her hand.

"Because that worked so well last time." She picks the lettuce back up. Shopping should never be done when she's hungry.

He wraps an arm around her. Leading her to the fruit, he stops to pick up a bag of carrots.

As much as he'd like to race her around the market, he remembers back to that day. It was a quiet Thursday, and practically no one else was shopping, so he had convinced her to hop into the cart. Somehow he had managed to collide into a display of marshmallows. He was thankful that they hadn't broken anything. She was scared, trying to hop out of the cart. But even then, at two months pregnant, she couldn't manage to get out. Ever since, she would never take up his offer to be pushed around.

"Let's get a watermelon." He digs through the pile to find the largest one.

"You're going to eat all of that watermelon?"

"Nope. I'm going to carry it around. If you have to carry our baby all day, I can carry a watermelon."

She should correct him, that there's no swollen feet, or cravings, or any of the other misfortunes of pregnancy, but this could be amusing. Her baby bump gets in the way of everything. She can't cook, she can't clean, or see her feet in the shower.

He is not bringing the watermelon in the shower.

There's not room for two baby bumps in there.

_(the page breaks here)_

She sets the kettle back on the stove. Wrapping her hands around her mug, she takes a sip.

Austin comes in, carting the shopping bags with him. He reaches into one of the bags. "An ugli fruit, for my pretty lady."

"How long did it take you to come up with that?" Trish asks, setting her coffee mug on the table.

"I think it's sweet." She kisses him on the cheek.

He grins, setting the bags down. "So how's the wedding planning going?"

Taking a knife from the drawer, she cuts into the fruit. She offers them each a slice.

"Dez and I can't agree on what color theme we should do." She stuffs the slice in her mouth, ripping off the peel.

"Why not just have a Zalien theme?" He takes a slice. Gnawing at it, juice runs over his fingers.

Trish's eyes light up. "That's brilliant!"

She jumps up and hugs him. He hugs her back, squishing the rest of his ugli fruit.

Great, now it's down the front of his shirt. They're going to have to do laundry.

He surprises Ally by giving her a hug from behind. She squeals, dripping juice down the front of her shirt. Now they both have dirty shirts, and when they get changed, he can catch her by surprise again, dragging her into their bedroom, where he will have his way with her until the buzzer sounds or the baby cries. Whichever happens first.

"Austin!"

"Sorry."

No he's not.

_(the page breaks here)_

She moves the egg from shell to shell until the yolks remain. Dumping them in the bowl, she checks the recipe.

"Ooh, pie." Rufus licks his lips.

"Sorry sweetie, it's not for you." She turns the mixer on high.

Opening the condensed milk can, she watches a frown form on his face. "Who's it for?"

"Mrs. Johnson. It's been rough for her since her husband died." Turning the mixer off, she hands him the can. "Pour this in for me?"

She pretends not to notice when he swipes a taste for himself.

She doesn't notice the second swipe either.

"What if daddy died?" For a kid with such a sweet mouth, he sure is saying some sour words.

"Mommy would cry for a very long time," she confesses.

Austin washes the graham cracker crumbs off his hands. "I'm not going anywhere buddy."

Over the sound of the mixer, she's sure he can hear the beating of her heart.

"Promise?"

"I promise." He links pinkies with him.

His eyes never leave hers.

_(the page breaks here)_

At the beach, she sits him underneath an umbrella with his snack.

"Hey, you like Cuties too!" A little girl approaches him, a half eaten clementine in one hand, a teddy bear in the other.

"Mmm, they're my favorite," he answers through a mouthful of fruit. His mother gives him a warning look and he swallows. He shouldn't be talking with his mouth full. Not in front of such a pretty girl.

She sits next to him. "I'm Ramona, and I'm four and a half."

"I'm Rufus, four and three quarters," he says triumphantly. His friends are all older than him. It's nice to experience a bit of role reversal.

Except he isn't the leader, because she can't stop talking.

He sets his hand on top of hers.

"You talk a lot."

Austin hands a cup to Ally, sitting down. "Ah, young love."

She looks up from her book. "How can you tell?"

"Don't touch my bear!"

They exchange a knowing look.

Is it possible to find your true love so young? She had to wait fifteen years. Not that it wasn't totally worth it, because she'd be lying if she said that she'd be happy marrying her first crush. Some things come in time.

She would have waited forever for him.

_(the page breaks here)_

When his fifth birthday rolls around, he insists on helping with the snacks.

"Look mom, monster hands!" He lifts his hands out of the bowl of avocado. The fork that he was supposed to mash it with sits next to the bowl, unused.

She narrows her eyes at him. He's wearing his new shirt, one they got during their trip to Disneyland, and he's making a mess.

Grabbing a paper towel, she turns around to find that her husband's hands are also green.

"Yeah Ally, monster hands!"

She tries to disguise her smile. Like father, like son. "You're supposed to set an example for him. Not the other way around."

He hangs his head in shame. Rufus follows suit.

Peering into the bowl, where there is hardly any avocado left, she shakes her head.

"Here, we can fix this." Austin takes the fork and scrapes his hand clean. Then he repeats the process on his son's hand. "See, all better."

"Yeah mom, all better." They beam innocently up at her.

They're lucky they're cute.

She's lucky they're hers.

_(the page breaks here)_

Saturday mornings they always make pancakes. It's family tradition.

"What's going on?" Austin asks, scrubbing his wet head with a towel.

"We ran out of pancake mix." She untwists the tie on the bread and places two slices in the toaster.

His towel falls to the ground.

His eyes widen. "No pancakes?"

"No pancakes." She loops her arms around his neck, pecking him on the lips. It's her fault. She hadn't gotten around to buying the buying the groceries.

She'll have to pay him back later.

No, not using pancakes.

She'd propose the idea now, but Rufus screams in protest. "Eww, gross!"

"Morning bud." He sneaks another kiss on the top of her head, pulling away.

The toast pops up. She takes the apricot jam out of the fridge.

Setting the plate in front of him, he stares at it.

She unscrews the lid to the jam and sticks a knife inside. He stays silent as she smears it on. Then he speaks up.

"That's not pancakes."

Oh yeah, he definitely takes after his father.

_(the page breaks here)_

There are some moments in life that are terribly embarrassing and he knows that he will never live down.

This is one of those moments.

He brings Rufus home from his first day of kindergarten, letting him have her attention first. She gushes as he tells her all about his first day. Ramona is in his class, and when he says her name, he blushes.

He's too young to understand love. He doesn't get that he's blushing because he liked how their hands touched when she passed him the purple crayon. He doesn't get that he likes the the long hair in the bow, not that he likes her bow. He'll learn in time.

Hopefully he'll learn to control that blush of his too.

Otherwise he'll end up in the same boat that Austin did.

Not that Austin minds being in this boat.

"You smell good," he comments, sniffing at her neck as Rufus runs up the stairs. "Like lemons."

She giggles, setting her rag down.

"That's the furniture polish."

His blush goes deeper than his son's did. "Oh."

Getting off her knees, she kisses his cheek. The rag gets left on the table.

He threads his fingers through her hair. With Rufus in his room, there's no reason he can't kiss his wife in his own living room.

So he does.

_(the page breaks here)_

Holding the pineapple steady, she takes a knife to the stalk.

"How did you and dad get together?" Rufus asks, taking a seat at the counter.

He needs to learn when the proper time to ask a question is. It is not when someone has a knife in their hand.

Luckily, she cut the pineapple, not her hand.

"I promised him I wouldn't say anything." She flips the pineapple to cut the end off.

"Dad?" His growing legs hit the counter as he swivels in his chair.

Ally chucks the scraps in the waste basket. "You knew this day would come eventually."

He sets his pencil down. Shuffling his papers, he buys time.

She's right. They knew this would come up eventually.

"As you know, your mom and I were best friends," he starts, holding the top of the pineapple for her.

"Right."

"Well, I was talking to Dez and Trish about how I really liked her in a more than friends kind of way. And then I heard her come into the room. I must've turned the color of your shirt."

She knocks off another scrap. "I'd say a couple shades darker."

Rufus tugs at the collar of his pink shirt.

Stealing a piece from the pile, he chomps down as they continue.

"So she asked me why I was blushing, and Dez told her that I had a huge crush on her. I was so embarrassed." He sets the pineapple on its side.

"You were adorable."

"Then what happened?" Rufus sets the inedible part back with the rest.

Austin dumps the scraps in with the others. "Then Trish suggested we go on a date together."

"Suggested? She shoved us together and locked us in the practice room. I'd hardly call that a suggestion."

"Well, you didn't have to kiss me."

"Aren't you glad I did?"

"Yes." He sets her knife down.

Going in for the kiss, they're interrupted by their son. "Guys?"

He gives her a peck on the cheek instead.

She picks her knife back up and slices the last of the pineapple.

"Why the sudden curiosity?" Ally lines the slices up to dice them.

Rufus takes one before she begins to cut. "No reason."

She has her suspicions, but she doesn't push it. He'll tell them when he's ready.

He leaves the room, and the knife gets set back down.

Now for that kiss.

_(the page breaks here)_

This was not planned at all. No matter how much he may think that it was, he is wrong.

It just happens to be a string of coincidences that leads her to this stroke of luck. She just happened to be craving a papaya smoothie from the stand that Ramona worked at. And she just happened to be the girl that Rufus had a crush on. And she just happened to have extra time to sit at the table and enjoy a smoothie with her husband.

Okay, so the fact that they were at the most hidden table was not a coincidence. That was on purpose.

"Are you two going to spy on me when we go out on a date too?" he asks, coming up to their table.

"She said yes?" Ally perks up.

He shakes his head. "I haven't even asked her yet."

She lets go of Austin's hand to fix her son's shirt. It's wrinkled, and his hair is sticking up. She smooths it down with her hand.

"Would you stand still?"

"Mom, she's watching." He glances over his shoulder to see the amused look on her face.

"Go get her tiger." She gives him a push in Ramona's direction.

Austin stands, taking her hand. "Let's give them some privacy."

Picking up her cup, she nods. Part of her wants to watch, because she just loves love, but she knows that everything is going to be okay. Everything worked out between her and Austin. Two best friends, growing closer and closer, until the only gap left to close is the one between their lips.

And when they close it, they'll feel the sparks.

She knows she still does.


End file.
